Holy Week

I've been quite slack with this blog last week and this week and while I may be excused for last week (with it being so busy with many different things going on), I'm afraid I have no good reason for posting on a Thursday. This has been our first week of break, so I have had no school this whole week! Which means it's been spent doing a lot of reading and going to a lot of processions. That's what they do here in Belize, especially in Benque. Each night (except last night) there has been a beautiful (albeit long) procession to help celebrate Holy Week. It officially started on Palm Sunday when we all went to the entrance of town and walked behind a man portraying Jesus riding on a real life donkey.

So we followed the donkey and 12 men dressed as Apostles to the Church for Mass as people riding in the back of a truck sang hymns. It looks like it was sweltering and while it certainly wasn't cool weather, it was breezy and therefore not miserable.

Speaking of Apostles, Joe and Michael got to be two of them!

It's ok to giggle at them..we did

Then we had a very lovely Palm Sunday Mass. I honestly can't remember what happened the rest of the day, I think we all just took naps and read! There was one little surprise later that evening when 2 men from the parish came over unannounced (much to my chagrin) with none other than...the donkey! Apparently it needed grass and shade and since our house is technically owned by the parish, we're the only place in Benque with grass and shade. So we had a pet donkey for maybe an hour which was quite exciting and confused the world out of our puppy. And of course the only natural thing to be done is to get on it. And that's exactly what Jack did.

 

 Just another day in the life of Jack White.

But for real.

The rest of this week has been spent with a strange fluctuation in the number of people here. Joe left on Monday to meet his sister and her fiance in the Cayes for a few days. Tuesday, Jack left to meet his girlfriend also in the Cayes and both parties come back home today. Also on Tuesday, Katie and Elisabeth left with Jack to go pick up Elisabeth's sister, but they came back on Tuesday so it was just during the day that it was incredibly empty in the volunteer community. And so we've just been sleeping, reading, processing, praying, and enjoying the downtime so we can actually enter into the beauty of Holy Week. This really is my favorite time of the year, and though I know I'll miss a lot of things of the Triduum (Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday) like the music and having Mass in English, I'm just going to enjoy Holy Week Belizean style. Beyond processions and a marimba, I'm not really sure what that entails. 

Please pray for my little catechumens who are receiving their Sacraments at the Easter Vigil! None of them are baptized and they are all so excited! But as Fr. Scott so lightly put it, "This will affect you for all eternity!" Of course he's right and it is a really big deal, so any and all prayer are appreciated. 

This is also the most sacred time in the Catholic Church but also for all of humanity, whether people realize it or not. Take advantage of it. Go to Mass. Celebrate the gift of the Eucharist and the gift of the priesthood today. But most of all remember that this entire weekend is about love. And not that Hallmark crap that gets shoved down our throats, but a real love that disperses all fear and overcomes death. That's the kind of love that is given to you. That's the kind of love that's given to me. Who would want to refuse that?

We must also never be afraid to embrace our crosses. Only when we cling to our cross are we able to see the life that lies past it.

 

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.